This invention relates to a receiver which can detect a failure in a receiver amplifier.
A conventional receiver of the type described, comprises an antenna, a receiver filter, a low noise amplifier, and a comparator. The receiver filter is supplied with an input receiver signal from the antenna and filters the input receiver signal into a filtered receiver signal. The low noise amplifier comprises a plurality of amplifier elements. Naturally, electric power is consumed in the low noise amplifier. Therefore, a consumption current is indispensable in the low noise amplifier. The low noise amplifier is supplied with the filtered receiver signal from the receiver filter and amplifies the filtered receiver signal into an amplified signal. The comparator is supplied with a reference signal of a reference level and the consumption current of a consumption level. The comparator compares the consumption level with the reference level to produce a fault signal when the consumption level is lower than the reference level. As will later be described in more detail, the conventional receiver is incapable of reliably detecting a failure in the low noise amplifier.